OLA — Two Rivers Gators head football coach Josh Harrison had several conversations with Gators senior linebacker Caleb Lisenbey about respect during the 2013 season.

Harrison said it wasn’t something Lisenbey was focused on earning from both his teammates and the other players in the 3A-5 Conference.

“Those conversation really fueled his fire,” Harrison said. “He took them to heart and he ran with it. We talked every day after practice. We talked about walking off the field with our heads held high, no matter what the scoreboard said.

“Caleb bought into that and he played every down as hard as he could. Wherever the football was, Caleb Lisenbey was going to be there, too.”

Lisenbey recorded 197 tackles, three interceptions, one interception returned for a touchdown, 11 sacks and 18 tackles for loss during the 2013 season — more than enough to earn the respect of his peers.

In fact, according to the 2012-13 Arkansas Activities Association (AAA) record book, Lisenbey’s performance puts him in eighth place for most tackles recorded in a single season.

Lisenbey had no idea.

“I knew I had a lot of tackles,” he said. “But I didn’t know I might be in the record books. It feels awesome. I don’t really know how to word it besides I’m very honored.”

Lisenbey was also awarded The Courier’s 2013 Tri-County Defensive Player of the Year by majority vote from The Courier’s sports staff and head football coaches from the Arkansas River Valley.

Lisenbey recorded his tackles from the middle-linebacker position, which Harrison described as the “quarterback of the defense.” Harrison said he put the undersized Lisenbey in the middle linebacker spot because he needed somebody intelligent who could run their no-huddle style defense. By Week 4, he knew he had made the right decision.

“Lisenbey recorded 25 tackles against Fountain Lake,” Harrison said. “He kept us in the ballgame on the defensive side of the ball. He’s 6-foot tall, 215 pounds. In 12 ballgames I can’t recall him missing a single tackle. I don’t remember a running back ever running through him, and we went up against some great teams and he went toe-to-toe with them.”

Lisenbey didn’t start for Two Rivers until the 11th grade — and while his numbers were good, they weren’t breathtaking. Lisenbey credits defensive coach Jimmy Wilson for his improvement.

“He changed the defense for every team we played and I feel like he put me in a position to make a lot of tackles,” Lisenbey said. “I think this year we really earned more respect than what we’ve been given. We proved some points to people that we can be good and we can compete.”

Yet with the 2013 football season in the books and graduation looming in May, Lisenbey is well aware he may have played his last down of football. Despite producing excellent numbers, the middle linebacker and Gators team leader has yet to receive any scholarship offers.

“It’s really depressing when you think about it,” he said. “During the season you might start to think that football is getting old because you’ve played so many games, but now that it’s over I wish I could have it all back. I’d go 10 times harder if I could do it all over again.

“I’d love to play at the next level. I’d love to play for (Arkansas) Tech, and I’ve thought about walking on, but going to school, playing football and having a job would be an awful lot.”

Lisenbey makes the second Two Rivers player to earn the top Tri-County Award in 2013. Gators quarterback Tyler Green won the offensive award on Sunday for his 2,750 yards passing and 40 total touchdowns during the season.

Harrison said the honor was more important than winning state titles.

“It shows that I have over-achievers,” he said. “We weren’t picked to win many games this year. None of our kids were expected to compete. We don’t have the super athletic kids every year, and I don’t know if I’ll ever have another team like this. Some coaches want a state title, but I want kids that over achieve.

“That means more to me than winning state or coming in with a team that’s expected to win that doesn’t perform. We had a group of over-achievers and I’m thrilled.”